Saturday, July 26, 2014

Décisions, Décisions!

These past few days have seen a lot of unexpected changes to my plans for France! I was under the impression that I would be an au pair for a family in Saint Etienne... until I found out my French contact never passed along my information to the family. Unfortunately, they were unaware of my interest and chose another au pair. I was incredibly distraught because I had my heart set on this lifestyle that would allow me peace of mind with my finances, while also letting me live in the heart of downtown Saint Etienne. Mais, c'est la vie...

My little pity-party lasted for most of the morning, but by afternoon I had made a profile on aupair-world and began my search for other families in the area. Within an hour I had contacted three potential families, though all on the outskirts of Saint Etienne,  and one wanted to talk to me right away. Later that afternoon, I was able to speak with them on the phone and learn a little bit about what they were looking for and what the expectations would be. Today, I Skyped with them and their two boys and discussed things more in depth.

But then I was incredibly divided between my desire to work and live as an au pair and my interest in living in downtown Saint Etienne where I may have the opportunity to be more social and flexible.

Monday, July 14, 2014

France... Encore!

It's hard to believe it's been just over two years since I last lived in France! Now that I am officially returning for the next school year, I figured it was time to start posting again to document this experience.

The whirlwind of preparations has already gotten underway! A professor of mine told me about the Teaching Assistants Program in France (TAPIF) years ago and I knew that it was something I would have to pursue after college. This program would allow me to combine my two passions-- teaching and French. While I began looking into it and considering it a long time ago, the application process started in September and I finally my application for consideration in mid-December. I knew not to expect any response until mid-April sometime, but come the afternoon of April 1st I had received notification of my acceptance! I was half convinced it was a joke until I received follow-up information in the days following. I was told I would be teaching English to elementary students somewhere in the region of Lyon, which had been my first choice.